Blockbuster Deal: Hossa for Heatley

Post by **Minstrel** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 10:24 am

Whoa... Ottawa has traded Marian Hossa and Greg DeVries to Atlanta for Danny Heatley.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID ... ubName=nhl

Seems Heatley asked for a 'change of scenery' deal in August so he wouldn't be quite so haunted by continual reminders of his killing his best freind in a car crash...

Ottawa was having trouble singing Hossa since he was asking for a giant contract, which he has now gotten from Atlanta instead. They signed him for $5 million this season, $6 million in 2006-07 and $7 million the following season. Heatley will earn $3.5 million, $4.5 million and 5.5 million.

That looks a lot like the whole 'new finances' thing being pretty much out the window in three years eh? So much for the new more reasonable contracts being signed...

hluraven · Post by **hluraven** » Wed Aug 24, 2005 10:59 am

Good deal for both IMO. Not sure the salaries are unreasonable, teams were always going to pay near the max for top players, its the mid-earners that were going to take the worst of the cap. I wonder if this is the last big trade?

Post by **Minstrel** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 3:32 am

If both players play at their potential/ability it's a better deal for Ottawa I think but the uncertainty with Heatley does level that out somewhat. It sure is a pretty darn good outcome to the 'We can't pay Star Player X what he's demanding. What are we going to do?' scenario. Ottawa has been tagged as a great regular season team but not tough enough for the playoffs and this certainly helps them there as well.

As for The Cap, you're right, it's the mid-level guys who are taking the biggest hits for sure. What made me raise an eyebrow was seeing that both of these contracts increased by three million dollars in the course of three years. If that is going to be the trend the league will be right back to where it was in the matter of a few years.

The pay disparity between star players and 3rd/4th liners will grow all that much larger since now these contracts amount for a much greater overall percentage of team salaries. Another interesting example of that is how much TB now has tied up in signing Lecavalier and St. Louis to long-term deals. They gave St. Louis a six year deal

hluraven · Post by **hluraven** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 9:37 am

[quote="Minstrel"] What made me raise an eyebrow was seeing that both of these contracts increased by three million dollars in the course of three years. If that is going to be the trend the league will be right back to where it was in the matter of a few years.
[/quote]

I'm not sure that's possible. It just means that these teams will have a few million less to pad out their roster. So GMs will offer players earning 1.5-2.5M now down to 1M when they're UFAs. Players on 750 will drop to 600 etc etc. Star players will always head up in value, the rest will have to drop. If there is a hard cap, total salaries cannot rise so the league cannot be back to where it was.

I think if left alone for a while, salaries will reach a steady level. Top players 5M-7.8M, the rest a lot lower. It's the players who all merge into one another who have lost bargaining power, and therefore salary IMO